Taking the wraps off Kaepernick

Since taking over as the 49ers‘ quarterback in week 10 of the season, Colin Kaepernick has shown a knack for capturing the spotlight and drawing attention. His life story, his look and his tremendous athletic ability have all combined to create a phenomenon that can be summed up as “Kaepermania.” Among the story lines:

The tattoos

Kaepernick has a lot of tattoos. They cover much of his upper body. And they’re largely Scripture-based. But don’t pin down his religion. Says his dad, Rick: “He was baptized Methodist, confirmed Lutheran and went to a Baptist church in Reno.”

The knucklehead

Sporting News/AOL FanHouse columnist David Whitley wrote a piece that gained national notoriety earlier this season in which he criticized Kaepernick’s tattoos for making him look like a convict. “NFL quarterback is the ultimate position of influence and responsibility. He is the CEO of a high-profile organization, and you don’t want your CEO to look like he just got paroled.” The column sparked a national outcry claiming racism, and Whitley’s editor published an apology.

The tortoise

Colin has a pet tortoise named Sammy. At first, he could hold Sammy in the palm of his hand. Now Sammy weighs more than 100 pounds and eats up the Kaepernick family backyard in Turlock (Stanislaus County).

Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale recruited him hard, but Kaepernick’s dream was to play Division I football. San Jose State coaches dangled a scholarship, then disappeared. Oregon State expressed strong interest, then stopped calling. Tennessee told Colin, “You’re the No. 1 player on our board,” and invited him for a visit. A week before the trip, a Tennessee coach called to cancel the visit and rescind the scholarship offer. And that’s how Kaepernick ended up at the University of Nevada.

The baseball star

Kaepernick was a standout pitcher in high school, throwing fastballs more than 90 mph and garnering interest from pro teams. In 2010, the Chicago Cubs offered Kaepernick $30,000 to come to Arizona for one month and throw a few bullpen sessions. He declined the offer, saying it would show poor leadership for his football team.

The Kaepernicking craze

After scoring jaw-dropping touchdowns, Kaepernick has been known to stand in the end zone and kiss his biceps. It was quickly dubbed “Kaepernicking,” an homage to last season’s “Tebowing” fad. And now everyone’s doing it.

The Kaep rap

A 5-year-old girl named Sarah Redden, from Ohio, became a YouTube sensation when she put out her own version of “Kaepernicking,” a rap video featuring the diminutive MC and dope rhymes like, “Wearing No. 7 like Colin Kaep, talking Super Bowl wins, he’s bringing them back.” Nearly 500,000 views on YouTube. That’s right.

The letter

As a fourth-grader in Turlock, Kaepernick wrote a prescient letter saying he’d like to play quarterback for the Packers, his favorite team, or the 49ers “even if they aren’t good.” He even predicted he’d be 6-foot-4 although he was only 5-2 at the time. The letter made a big splash nationally when it was revealed on “Sunday Night Football.”

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Scott Ostler and SFGate.com’s Kevin Lynch contributed to this report, compiled and edited by Chronicle sports editor Al Saracevic.